Ballgame Over!
Turn Out the Lights!
That’s all she wrote!
The Fat Lady has just sung!
As a lifetime New Yorker, believe me when I tell you that nothing happens in New York State without Sheldon Silver’s blessing!
Contrary to what outsiders in the world may think, the most powerful man in New York politics, hands down, is an Orthodox Jew from the tough streets of the Lower East Side.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg painfully learned this lesson a few years ago when he fought tooth and nail to build a football stadium for the New York Jets on the Westside of Manhattan.
Bloomberg tried every maneuver he could think of and mounted the biggest public relations campaign this city has ever seen.
And it was all for nothing because Silver gave the stadium his thumbs down and squashed Bloomberg like a cockroach.
Silver has served in the state assembly for over 30 years. He’s been Assembly Speaker since 1994 and he knows where all the bodies are buried in New York.
So although this controversy may go on for quite a while longer, it’s all over but the shouting.
The New York Post reports that a powerful state politician joined with Gov. David Paterson on Tuesday in suggesting that Islamic leaders should move a proposed Islamic center and mosque farther from ground zero, saying the organizers should be more sensitive to opponents.
The Cordoba Initiative has the right to build the center at a building two blocks from Ground Zero but should be open to compromise, said New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who represents the lower Manhattan district.
“In the spirit of living with others, they should be cognizant of the feelings of others and try to find a location that doesn’t engender the deep feelings the currently exist about this site,” Silver said.
Critics say the building is too close to where Islamic extremists destroyed the World Trade Center on 2001 and killed nearly 2,800 people. Supporters say religious freedom should be protected.
“I think the sponsors should take into very serious consideration the kind of turmoil that’s been created and look to compromise,” Silver said.
Paterson, who has expressed dismay over the heated arguments on the issue, was meeting Tuesday with New York Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan to try to suggest an alternative.
Meanwhile, the developer was expected to attend an annual dinner Tuesday night hosted by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spoken in support of the project.
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